A "New Enlightenment" for Wisconsin Policy and Politics

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A recent study by the Tax Foundation, titled “Location Matters”, was cited in an Official Press Release merely hours ago by Scott Walker as proving his policies are successful in turning Wisconsin’s economy around. The press release states, in part:

“The new study rated Wisconsin as one of the top five states for new businesses. The study was based on tax laws that were in effect as of April 1, 2011. When additional pro‐job policies are factored into the study in the future, it’s anticipated that Wisconsin will improve even further in the rankings.”

Walker fails to inform readers that The Tax Foundation is hardly a reliable source for a study, nor is it non-partisan. former and current Tax Foundation board members and top “researchers” have direct ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and top economists have given prior reports by the Tax Foundation scathing rebukes.

“They actually find that their version of the “Buffett rule” would collect $120 billion a year, which is a seriously significant sum. But they try to make it look small by comparing one year’s revenue with the total debt outstanding.

I mean, the standard scoring method in Washington involves using 10-year projections — and even that is flawed, because the real budget issues are much longer-term than that. But nobody, nobody thinks it makes sense to estimate the effect of a revenue proposal on future debt by looking only at the first year’s receipts.

This deliberate fraud — because that’s what it has to be — is an example of the reasons knowledgeable people don’t trust the Tax Foundation.”

“Knowledgeable people don’t trust the Tax Foundation.” This confirms what we’ve known for quite some time about Scott Walker. He is merely a puppet for ALEC and the corporatist robber barons, and will believe any of their propaganda for the purposes of forwarding his extremist ideological agenda. Regardless of the consequences for Wisconsin. This study is worthless as a measure of economic success. Period. The truth is, Walker and his allies have little left in the way of legitimate facts. They will continue to use any means necessary to stay in power – even after the impending recall.

The link to the publication was already posted in the blog. While the Tax Foundation pre-dates ALEC, can you factually and accurately deny the influence and connections with current/former staff and research? I think not. Also, I would be interested in your response to Paul Krugman’s comments as to the validity of Tax Foundation studies.